Ash Barty blows hot and cold to beat Daria Gavrilova at Australian Open

Two days ago, in the opening match of her Australian Open campaign, Ash Barty did not drop a point until the 17th time of asking. In the second round she lost the first, and the second and third.

Daria Gavrilova has a habit of sending stars into a wobble. Angelique Kerber (while she was No 1), Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova and Ana Ivanovic have all fallen to this Russian-born textbook definition of a pocket rocket.

To Barty’s quiet industry, her fellow Australian is bouncy and quick. She talks to herself, nods as if into a mirror. Brimming with grit but also a smidgeon impatient when patience is a prerequisite.

That was the case in the second set on Rod Laver Arena when, down a set but with two set points and a golden chance to force a deciding stanza, she dumped two shots cheaply into the net. Two points after that her world No 1 opponent had sealed a 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) win to join Mark Woodforde (1988-1992) as only the second Australian to make the third round at Melbourne Park for five consecutive years.

Perhaps this was an attempt to control the play, having been run, in some rallies, twice as many metres as the conservationist up the other end. There is a sense Barty operates on the least amount of energy required. The tank is full, but only depleted when necessary. An ace to close out the first set made her point.

But this Barty party was missing some zing, some lime in her vodka soda. At times she did not even know which drink she wanted, surveying the menu, asking for an ace but being served a double fault. She served six throughout the course of the match – the same number as Gavrilova – and made 34 unforced errors to her counterpart’s 29.

To wit, three double faults inside one game gifted Gavrilova an early break in the second set and a 2-0 lead. She broke back the very next game, ceding only a point, and raced to a 5-2 lead. By the time Gavrilova had fought back to 5-5 and taken a 6-5 lead, Barty was visibly vexed and striking at her heavily strapped thigh.

That quad had not looked like that in her round-one win over Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic on Tuesday, but there was a bit of talk when she emerged sporting bandages for her opening doubles match on Wednesday.

“It’s actually a very small tape job, we just wrap it to make sure it stays on,” Barty said afterwards. “I can’t really hide it. I’m fit as a fiddle. I’m good to go.”

And so she toiled to a tie-break that see-sawed but never stretched to a lead of more than one point either way.

Gavrilova wanted this. Waylaid by injuries for far too long, she had not progressed past the first round of a major since 2018 and was forced to sit out last year’s Australian Open, a tournament in which she has twice made the fourth round. But moments make matches, and when those tie-break advantages went wanting, Barty was not going to give her a third.

“It’s so nice to see her back,” Barty said of her friend. “She has had a bit of a tricky run with injury over the last 18 months or so, so it’s nice to see her back out competing. I think when you play another Aussie, you play a compatriot, rankings and experience goes out the window. It’s just typically you know each other very well. Always going to be a tricky match, no matter what. Genuinely I’m so pleased that she is back out here competing and healthy again.

“Obviously having 12 months off [I’m] a little bit rusty, but I’m certainly happy with how I’ve been able to fight though the last couple of weeks.”

Also on Thursday, defending champion and fourth seed Sofia Kenin was bundled out after an upset 6-3, 6-2 loss to Estonian Kaia Kanepi, adding her name to the seeds already dispatched. Belinda Bencic beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 while Australian wildcard lost another gruelling five-set match to South African Lloyd Harris, going down 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

source: theguardian.com